Court papers filed in Manhattan say the magazine infringed Playboy's exclusive right to publish the pictures taken by fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcos Piggott for the publication's 60th anniversary issue.

The suit says Harper's posted on its website a clothed photo of the 40-year-old supermodel from the Playboy shoot, but added a hyperlink that took readers to another website showing the nude and partially-nude photo spread.

The lawsuit seeks 150,000 dollars (£91,000) per photo infringed.

Moss has been a star since she was discovered as a teenager in the late 1980s.